A country required two-thirds majority of 124 to win a seat in the elections.
By proposing the addition of six permanent members this year, it may appear that it was a major concession, but in actual fact, it will make no difference to the privilege of the permanent five as the new six will have no veto, ever! points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India will participate in a debate on reform and expansion of United Nations Security Council to be held at the world body on December 11, government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
India supports dialogue and diplomacy and not war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) Summit in Kazan, Russia on Wednesday, in an unambiguous message calling for resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through peaceful negotiations.
However, the US said, it is not prepared to have discussions on the issue ahead of other "extremely important reforms" that have to take place in the world body.
Pressing for "actual negotiations" on the issue of UN Security Council expansion, India has asked the General Assembly for discussions to be held in an interactive format, as representatives of the world body met in New York to launch parleys on reforms.
India's top diplomat at the United Nations on Tuesday said that countries should negotiate on the text on the table and give their national positions on the issue.
Earlier, China had extended the "technical hold" on India's move to get Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN.
The UK government made its first major commitment to support UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership within it as part of a refreshed defence and foreign policy review tabled in Parliament on Monday.
India on Thursday said that the United Nations Security Council reform is the "most urgent and pressing need" and called for inclusion of more developing nations in the decision making structures of the powerful world body.
Just a week after President Barack Obama's endorsement for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council, the US has said no breakthrough is expected "anytime soon" on the UNSC reforms.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees the prospect of making the Security Council more democratic, exclusively, through broadening the representation of countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In his address to the high-level UN General Assembly session, Jaishankar said those who politicise the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so at their own peril.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the atrocities committed by Russian troops are no different from terrorists like the Islamic State extremists as he demanded immediate action to bring the Kremlin's forces to justice for "war crimes".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon who said he "counted on India's leadership" in South Asia, at the Sustainable Development Goals summit in New York marking the world body's landmark 70th anniversary session.
In a significant victory, India has been re-elected to the UN's main human rights body for the period of 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group.
India and other G4 countries have expressed their common vision for a reformed UN Security Council, seeking a concise working document which will serve as a basis for further negotiations on expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories.
Four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have supported India's candidature for a permanent seat in the top world body, the government told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
UN must become better at solving problems: US
Biden has reiterated America's support for India's permanent membership on a reformed UNSC and its entry into the NSG during his first in-person bilateral meeting with Modi at the White House.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday once again called on the United States and other developed countries to take a leadership role in ensuring that reform takes place in the United Nations and its Security Council.
PM Modi went to New York this time not to engage in polemics, but to find solutions to global problems. He made some progress on several matters, even on reform of the UN Security Council, when the US made a major concession for the first time that six permanent members without veto, including India, could be considered
India has said frustration is building up among the international community over the United Nations Security Council's inability to respond to global crises due to lack of reforms in its structure and functioning.
"We deeply appreciate the fact that President Obama made that declaration of support for India's candidature as a Permanent Member of the Security Council and subsequently to that we have had some useful discussion with the State Department," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told media persons at a press conference in Washington.
India will make a strong pitch for comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council to create an equitable system that is reflective of current realities when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the UN General Assembly on Saturday.
'We have been one of the most frequent countries to be on the Council. We have contributed so much to the maintenance of international peace and security,' India's Permanent Representative to the UN Asoke Mukerji tells Rediff.com's Suman Guha Mozumder.
The race for the UN secretary-general for 2022-2027 is already over and another term for Antonio Guterres is a foregone conclusion, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the UN Human Rights Council and prohibiting any future funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Trump also directed the US to review its participation in UNESCO, citing concerns about anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment within the organizations. The executive order argues that the UNHRC, UNESCO, and UNRWA have drifted from their missions and act contrary to US interests. Trump previously halted funds for UNRWA during his first term, and President Joe Biden put a block on US funds for UNRWA in January 2024 over allegations that staff for the agency participated in Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack against Israel.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will arrive in New York on Sunday to participate in the high-level 77th session of the UN General Assembly, which kicks off on September 20 with the opening of the general debate.
"The responsibilities of member states must be assumed by member states and let's not make the UN the scapegoat of the failures or of the negative actions that are committed by member states," he said.
Contending that the United Nations Security Council should reflect contemporary realities, India on Wednesday sought 'urgent reform' of the powerful UN body to effectively meet emerging global challenges.
India proposes to organise a briefing of the Security Council on December 15 on 'Global counter-terrorism approach - principles and the way forward" under the 'Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts'.
If elected, it would be India's eighth term on the UN Security Council and this two-year tenure will start in January 2021.
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, on Thursday lambasted Pakistan for peddling a false narrative on New Delhi and said there are no "takers for your malware here".
Haley also said there was a plan for her to travel to India by the end of this year.
The UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a negotiating text by consensus for the long-pending Security Council reforms, setting the stage for talks on the issue at its 70th session beginning on Tuesday, boosting India's bid for a permanent seat in the revamped world body.
On October 24, the United Nations turns 70. 'The credibility of the UN has been eroded by the fact that the Security Council does not represent the political realities of the world today,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, listing the 10 things the UN needs to do to become more relevant and effective.
The Security Council as it is today is unable to bring peace and security in the world and so there is reason for countries like India to become members of the Council, Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
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